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Copyricht,  1888,  by  A.  WrrrKMANN, 
58  &  60  Roadc  St..  New  York. 


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DESCRIPTIVE. 


¥HE  oil  regions  of  Pennsylvania  and  New  York,  from  which  almost  the  entire  world  has 
drawn  its  illuminating  supplies  for  the  past  twenty  years,  are  of  comparatively  small 
extent  and  to  many  an  unknown  country.     The  entire  petroleum  business  is  peculiarly 
an  American  enterprise,  which  commenced  less  than  thirty  years  ago  and  which  has  rapidly 
assumed  proportions  that  are  truly  wonderful.     The  first  well  ever  drilled  for  oil  was  that 
of  Col.  E.  L.  DRAKE  which  was  put  down  near  Titusville  in  1859.     Since  that  time  upwards 
of  57,000  wells  have  been  drilled,  and  nearly  400,000,000  barrels  of  petroleum  have  been 
taken  from  the  earth.     There  are  about  25,000  wells  producing  oil  at  the  present  time. 

A  section  of  country  beginning  south  of  Wellsville,  in  New  York  State,  and  extending 
south  westerly,  through  the  western  pait  of  Pennsylvania  and  a  small  distance  into  Ohio  and 
West  Virginia  has  produced  this  quantity  of  petroleum.  A  stretch  of  laud,  two  hundred 
miles  in  length  and  less  than  twenty  miles  in  width,  will  include  the  entire  oil  regions.  But 
not  one  tenth  part  of  this  area  has  proved  productive  of  oil.  The  oil  districts,  about  eighty 
five  in  number,  are  scattered  through  this  stretch  of  country,  with  well  marked  boundaries 
that  separate  them  from  the  large  sections  of  dry  or  unproductive  territory,  by  which  they  are 
surrounded.  These  districts  range  in  size  from  100  up  to  75,000  acres.  The  counties  that  have 
become  famous  for  their  oil  production  are  Allegany  and  Cattaraugus  in  New  York  State, 
and  McKean,  Wan-en,  Forest,  Crawford,  Venango,  Clarim,  Butler,  Armstrong,  Beaver,  Alle- 
gheny and  Washington  in  Pennsylvania.  For  a  long  time  Pennsylvania  enjoyed  the  distinc- 


.'UK1670 


tion  of  being  the  only  oil  producing  state.  She  has  produced  more  oil  than  all  other  states 
combined.  Many  of  the  older  sections  have  been  almost  entirely  exhausted  of  their  oil,  but 
new  districts  have  been  continually  opened  up,  and  at  the  present  time,  the  production  is 
40,000  barrels  a  day.  The  oil  developments  of  Northwestern  Ohio  are  entirely  distinct  from 
those  of  Pennsylvania  and  New  York.  The  Ohio  oil  is  found  in  a  limestone  rock  and  is 
strongly  impregnated  with  sulphurous  compounds;  its  principal  use  is  for  fuel  purposes,  while 
the  product  of  Pennsylvania  makes  the  finest  illuminating  oil  in  the  world. 

HOW    AN    OIL    WELL    IS    DRILLED. 

The  crude  petroleum  of  Pennsylvania  and  the  eastern  oil  fields  exists  in  the  minute  pores 
of  a  heavy  sandstone  formation  that  is  found  from  500  to  2700  feet  beneath  the  surface  of 
the  ground.  The  wells  are  drilled  by  steam,  and  so  perfect  is  the  process  that  the  deepest 
holes  are  drilled  in  from  30  to  90  days.  When  a  well  is  to  be  sunk,  a  large  wooden  derrick  is 
first  erected,  which  is  72  feet  in  height  and  24  feet  square  at  the  bottom,  tapering  to  about  2 
feet  square  at  the  top.  The  heavy  tools,  which  are  usually  60  feet  in  length  and  from  1800  to 
2500  pounds  weight,  are  attached  to  one  end  of  a  long  cable,  two  inches  in  diameter,  which 
is  wound  about  a  large  windlass,  called  a  ball  wheel  and  attached  to  one  side  of  the  derrick. 
The  bottom  piece  of  the  string  of  steel  tools  is  a  simple  chisel-like  instrumtnt,  known  as  a 
bit,  and  from  4  to  8  inches  across  the  cutting  edge.  Steam  is  supplied  from  a  20  horse  boiler, 
placed  some  distance  from  the  derrick.  A  powerful  engine,  usually  of  15  H.  P.,  imparts 
motion  to  the  heavy  walking  beam,  which  is  pivoted  to  an  upright  stick  of  timber,  called  the 
"Samson  Post."  The  cable  with  the  string  of  tools  is  attached  to  the  end  of  the  walking 
beam  which  projects  into  the  derrick,  through  the  medium  of  an  iron  arrangement,  with 
clamps  and  a  swivel,  and  known  as  a  "Temper  Screw."  As  the  walking  beam  moves  up 
and  down,  the  heavy  tools  are  lifted  and  let  fall.  The  skillful  driller,  with  his  hand  upon 
the  temper  screw,  causes  the  tools  to  turn  round  and  round  and  pays  out  the  cable,  as  the 
drill  cuts  its  way  through  the  reck.  The  work  proceeds  night  and  day  until  the  oil-bearing 


rock  is  reached,  stopping  only  when  the  tools  are  pulled  up,  to  change  the  bit  for  a  fresh  one, 
and  remove  the  pulverized  rock  from  the  hole.  For  the  last  purpose,  an  iron  boiler  is  pro- 
vided, with  a  ball  valve  in  the  bottom  which  is  fastened  to  a  long  rope,  and  readily  lowered 
and  raised  by  a  smaller  windlass  to  the  left  of  the  derrick,  and  denominated  the  sand  reel. 

FLOWING    WELLS    AND    THE    TORPEDO. 

When  the  rock  containing  the  oil  is  reached,  if  the  well  is  in  good  territory,  the  hole  be- 
gins to  fill  rapidly  with  oil.  And  as  the  drill  cuts  its  way  through  the  sand,  as  the  oil  form- 
ation is  called,  the  oil  often  starts  flowing  from  the  top  of  the  hole.  Pipes  are  connected  and 
the  oil  conducted  into  suitable  receivers.  It  often  flows  naturally  for  months,  without  other 
aid,  than  an  occasional  stirring  up  from  the  drill.  But  the  flow  is  greatly  accelerated  by  the 
aid  of  nitro  glycerine,  and  most  wells  are  treated  with  heavy  doses  of  it  soon  after  being  com- 
pleted. The  operation  is  called  "Shooting  or  Torpedoing  a  Well."  The  explosive  is  poured 
into  tin  tubes,  about  four  inches  in  diameter,  and  made  in  sections,  so  as  to  conform  in  length 
to  the  thickness  of  the  oil  bearing  rock.  These  are  lowered  to  the  bottom  of  the  hole,  and 
exploded  by  means  of  a  weight  and  a  percussion  cap.  A  miniature  earthquake  is  produced 
nt  the  bottom  of  the  hole.  This  breaks  the  sand  rock  into  fragments  and  increases  the  flow 
of  oil.  The  first  effect  of  the  torpedo  is  to  cause  the  rising  of  a  great  fountain  of  oil,  which 
ascends  far  above  the  top  of  the  derrick  with  a  rush  and  roar,  forming  one  of  the  prettiest  and 
most  interesting  sights  to  be  witnessed  in  the  oil  regions.  In  some  parts  of  the  country,  wells 
are  struck  that  start  from  800  to  4()(!0  barrels  a  day.  The  largest  well  in  Pennsylvania,  the 
Armstrong  in  Butler  County,  which  was  discovered  in  October  1884,  is  estimated  to  have 
started  flowing  at  the  rate  of"  400  or  5(0  barrels  an  hour.  So  great  was  the  force  and  power- 
ful the  flow  that  it  was  impossible  to  save  the  oil  at  first,  and  for  several  hours  the  flood  of 
crude  petroleum  ran  to  waste  down  the  hillsides  and  into  the  nearest  streams.  When  one  of 
these  oil  geysers  is  accidentally  ignited  the  sight  is  both  grand  and  impressive,  nnd  they  often 
burn  for  a  long  time,  before  the  ingenuity  of  the  owners  devises  means  to  extinguish  them. 


NATURAL    GAS. 

The  presence  of  oil  is  always  accompanied  by  greater  or  less  quantities  of  gap,  which  to 
distinguish  it  from  the  artificial  or  manufactured  article  is  called  natural  gas.  In  some 
sections  immense  wells  are  found  that  produce  nothing  but  gas.  In  such  cases,  if  in  proxim- 
ity to  large  towns  or  cities,  the  gas  wells  are  more  valuable  than  the  wells  that  produce  oil,  as 
the  gas  is  conducted  through  pipes  and  used  for  heat,  light  and  manufacturing  purposes. 
Scarcely  a  town  exists  to-day  in  Western  Pennsylvania  which  is  not  heated  or  lighted  to  a 
greater  or  less  extent  by  natural  gas.  The  same  is  true  of  the  cities  and  towns  contiguous  to 
the  great  oil  and  gas  regions  of  Northwestern  Ohio  and  Indiana.  The  city  of  Pittsburgh  is 
surrounded  by  natural  gas  fields  of  great  extent,  and  this  convenient  fuel  has  supplanted 
coal,  and  within  the  past  four  years  almost  revolutionized  the  manufactories  of  the  great  Iron 
City  of  the  Alleghenies.  Natural  gas  from  McKean  County,  Pa.,  finds  its  way  through  heavy 
iron  pipes  and  is  used  for  fuel  purposes  in  Buffalo,  N.  Y.  So  great  is  the  force  with  which 
t  issues  from  the  underground  rock  that  no  additional  power  is  necessary  to  make  it  flow  a 
distance  of  over  ninety  miles,  with  only  a  small  percentage  of  loss  of  pressure. 

THE    PIPE    LINES. 

Nearly  all  the  oil  produced  is  transported  out  of  the  oil  country  by  means  of  a  system  of 
pipe  lines.  One  of  these,  the  National  Transit  Co.,  is  able  to  take  the  oil  as  it  flows  or  is 
pumped  into  the  tanks  of  the  producer,  and  convey  it  through  its  own  pipes,  to  the  refineries 
at  New  York,  Philadelphia,  Cleveland,  Baltimore,  Pittsburgh  and  Buffalo.  Two  six  inch 
pipe  lines,  supplied  with  powerful  pumping  stations,  at  established  intervals,  extend  from 
Olean,  through  the  southern  part  of  New  York  State,  one  branch  going  to  Bayonne,  N.  J., 
and  the  other,  crossing  the  Hudson  River,  passing  directly  through  Central  Park,  and  thence 
across  the  East  River  to  the  refineries  at  Hunter's  Point  on  Long  Island.  These  lines  are  kept 
busy  night  and  day  and  are  capable  of  transporting  25,000  barrels  of  oil  from  the  oil  regions 
to  the  seaboard  eveiy  twenty-four  hours. 


DERRICK   WITH   SIDE  FLOW. 


DRAKE  WELL,  THE  FIRST  OIL  WELL  DRILLED. 


Oil.  CITY,  PA. 


JO-JO.    A  TYPICAL  OIL  FIND  TOWN. 


TWO  MILK  TRESTLE,  O.  B.  &  W.  R.  R. 


A  PIPE  LINE. 


CURVE  IN  ROAD  NKAR  SUMMIT.  PA. 


A  BURNING  OIL  TANK. 


CITY  OK  TANKS,  BELOW  OLEAX,  X.  Y.     CAPACITY,  .;5,<x*>  C.AU.ONS  KACII. 


THE  GREAT  KINZUA  BRIDGE. 


A  PUMP  FOR  FORCING  OIL  FROM  ONE  STATION  TO  ANOTHER. 


LOADING  AN  OIL  TRAIN. 


A  TORPEDO  WAGON  WITH  LOAD  OF  NITRO-GLYCERINE. 


NATURAL  GAS  SCENES. 

.'11)4670 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA,  LOS  ANGELES 

THE  UNIVERSITY  LIBRARY 
This  book  is  DUE  on  the  last  date  stamped  below 


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